Active 10 Launches to Get People Moving

The Active 10 campaign has been launched by Public Health England and a new walking app aims to get Swindon’s masses moving.

A quarter of adults in the town do less than half-an-hour’s exercise a week, according to official statistics.

Swindon Borough Council is backing a national campaign aiming to get everyone to do at least 10-minutes’ brisk walking a day as a way to boost people’s health.

It comes as official figures reveal that over 560,000 adults in the South West aged between 40 and 60 go a whole month without a 10-minutes’ brisk walk.

Taking at least one 10-minute walk a day could reduce the risk of an early death by 15 per cent, health bosses said. Currently, physical inactivity is a contributory factor in one in six deaths in the UK – costing the NHS over £900 million a year.

According to Public Health England, Britons are a fifth less active now than they were in the 1980s. They say people walk 15 fewer miles in a year than they did two decades ago.

The quango’s app – called Active 10 – has been developed to help people incorporate a 10-minute brisk walk into day-to-day life. The free mobile app tracks how far you are walking each day.

Coun Brian Ford, Swindon Borough Council’s Cabinet Member for Adult’s Health and Social Care, said: “We want to make sure people in the area have the tools they need to take simple steps to improve their health.

“I would urge anyone who wants to start getting active to begin by using the Active 10 app and simply incorporating a brisk 10-minute walk into your daily lives to gain real health benefits.”

Dr Jenny Harries, Deputy Medical Director at Public Health England and former public health boss for Swindon council, said: “I know first-hand that juggling the priorities of everyday life often means exercise takes a back seat.

“Walking to the shops instead of driving or going for a brisk 10-minute walk on your lunch break each day can add many healthy years to your life. The Active 10 app is a free and easy way to help anyone build more brisk walking into their daily routine.”

The free Active 10 app is available on the Google Play and iTunes stores.